Los Angeles - Elaine

This world is boring, was the only thing I could think about during the week Milo was under Trem’s control.

Not like that’s what I should be thinking about, what with the whole world being in grave danger as Trem regains all magic from our world to turn this world into his own little sandbox. All very terrifying, but what’s more terrifying is how little there is to do while I wait for my utter demise. I asked Liz’s mother, and the only thing there really is to do is use a “T.V.”, or “YouTube”. What’s a YouTube, and why do people find it so intriguing?

I asked to retrieve access to the YouTube, and she handed me what she called an “iPad”. She left me to figure it out, which I could not do. I fiddled with it, told it to open by the powers of sesame, and all other Aerethian ways of passage. None worked, I just kept looking at a bright screen that displayed the text:

5:04 / November 4th, 2018

Eventually, I gave up.

Instead, I began to review what I’d planned for Milo as I walked to a school I wasn’t supposed to be going to.

I’d broken into Trem’s house and woke up Milo, finding out he has regained some of his memories from previous timelines. Before Trem could catch me, though, I used Milo as a time constant (that’s what I call it, anyway) to rewind that day back to the night before, in hopes he’d still remember what I told him.

“Hey, Liz!” I turned around after hearing a voice call my six-year-old self’s name, watching Milo run up in a sweat.

“Milo?” I ran forward to say hello, “How did you get here?”

“I ran.”

“Aren’t you like a mile away from this school-?”

“And how did you know that?” He eyed me suspiciously like I’d confirmed all his theories.

Which, in his defense, I just did.

“Do you remember?” I looked closer into his eyes. If we were on Aereth, and if I was Elaine, I could read his mind and see into his past memories by just making eye contact. Unfortunately, my powers have barely begun to grow back into this new body, so all I’m able to do is rewind time a couple hours (as I did with Milo).

“I do remember. What you said,” he looked down, a look of fear now replacing whatever was there before. “All the dreams I’ve been having… they’re all true?”

I nodded.

“And the girl in my dreams, the one with the white hair and bracelet just like your’s. You’re her?”

Another nod.

He paused. I looked closer to see his expression, and I recognized it from the first time he entered Aereth. He had dozens of questions forming in his mind, but he couldn’t figure out where to start. It made me smile like that was the loop reset again but in a new world. New rules.

“Do you have weird ears?”

I tilted my head in confusion, “‘Weird’ ears?”

“Yeah, because in my dreams your ears were really long-”

“Those are called elf ears,” I interrupted, “And they’re like that because in my world I’m a type of human called an ‘elf’.”

“Makes sense.”

More silence.

“The ‘elf’ girl - you - told me of a prophecy,” He looked at his right arm where I’d written a spell of engraving like the message was pushing him forward. “Am I supposed to kill someone?”

“You don’t need to kill anyone,” I said that with certainty. Trem’s lackeys were made from his blood and magic, so killing them never meant killing a person, per se. The Milo I knew - from all the past timelines I’d experienced - never killed anyone. Sure, a couple of limbs were occasionally flown around if you were a lackey to Trem, but none were killed. “You were supposed to save our world.”

“And what is ‘your world’?” There was a glint in his eyes, and I could see the Milo I knew returning. The one who was ready for whatever march was ahead. I smiled.

“Take my hand, and I’ll show you.”

- -

Magic is a finicky thing.

“One’s power comes from one’s soul” was one of the things the original ancient of time practically engraved into my brain. “Magic is something you build up, not something you inherit. You can study all of the hand formations, recite whatever scripts you can get your hands on, but it needs to be by your hand. It’s the experience that defines your power, not how well you do it.”

Liz’s body, obviously, did not contain my soul. Its soul was of a tiny six-year-old girl that liked dragons and coloring little booklets. Not Elaine, the protector of a fantasy world that could control the timeline with a drop of jewelry.

That said, trying to send Milo and me into a dream world was more exhausting that I could express.

Creating a dream world was a trick Cypher - another ancient who will not be named called her Cyph-Cyph - had taught me ages ago. Whoever I made contact with, I could send into my mind and show pictures or memories of what I had experienced. Anything could happen in a dream world, but it would only be in the mind. Nothing would really occur, except likely a headache afterward.

Milo took my hand, and I closed my eyes and tried to begin the spell.

A couple of seconds passed.

“So… whatcha doing?” He asked.

“Trying to create a dream world.”

“That’s some kind of magic, yeah?” He questioned. It was entertaining to listen to how he was trying to understand my world, but really only knew blinks and moments of everything.

“Mm-hmm.”

“That would probably take some focus, yeah?”

“Yes, which isn’t easy to achieve when I’m making conversation.”

“Gotcha.”

More time passed, and Milo’s grip on my hand loosens a little.

I grabbed his hand before he can back away, now stuttering with embarrassment. “Just-just give it a second. I can do this.”

“Your face is getting really red.” I didn’t open my eyes, in fear it would interrupt my spell.

“I’m focusing.”

“You look like you’re about to fart.”

“Girls don’t fart, Milo.”

“Oh yeah. Forgot.”

Even more time passed. I sighed, eyes still closed shut.

“This usually works,” I admitted.

“I bet.”

Wait, I thought. There’s something that can make this easier.

“Hey, Milo.”

“Yeah?”

“Close your eyes too.”

“Ok.”

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Milo, eyes closed and holding his breath in focus. Ever so quietly, I reached my hand out and yanked out one of his hairs.

“Ow!” His open hand shot up, holding his short and patted his short caramel hair. “What was that?”

“Magic,” I explained as I let go of his hand for a moment. Tying his hair together into a small circle, I wrapped it around my wrist as a new bracelet. “Anything touched by the chosen one can be magical, and enhanced for the right user.”

“Ok. Where can we find the chosen one?”

“That’s cute,” I took his hand again, but he still looked confused. “You really don’t know who the Chosen One is?”

“All I know is that I was locked in a farmhouse because I’m supposed to do something, and I was in a kingdom with lots of castles and-” he faltered for a second, his shut eyes tilted to the ground. “That’s all I know.”

“Well, allow me to explain.” I closed my eyes, and I could feel magic run through me like water in my veins. Eventually, I felt spurts of electricity running between my arm and Milo’s.

It’s time to confess.